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Rating:  - Some technical data about this film
There is a very good reason for this film not living up to That the Way It Is. I am sure if you have seen this movie you have noticed that it is much more grainey and not as bright as TTWIS or other movies for that matter. This contributes a lot to the picture not being as well received. The fact of the matter is that MGM in it's infinite wisdom chose to shoot the movie in 16 mm not 35 mm as most all movies. This is a little known fact. But all you have to do is watch for many of the stage segments and you can see the photographers crawling around the various stages with a relatively small camera in hand. They may have done this for maneuverability sake but with significant loss in quality. 16 mm is a long way from 35 mm in all measuring points. This may also be why they have not put it out on DVD as yet. The movie is very grainy and this adds a subconscious negativity to the movie. I was present at many of the concerts that were filmed for this movie. The live shows were not grainy at all and they were very sharp and well lit and came across much better than the film.
Content of a movie is always affected by how it is presented. Long live the King
Rating:  - This video rocks, entertains . . . and saddens
To start, I won't labor through listing all of the music on the concert video. Reviewer Alejandra Vernon did that nicely in her excellent Spotlight Review.
This is not my favorite Elvis concert video from a musical perspective - that would be "The '68 Comeback Special". But this video belongs on your Elvis shelf because it reveals an Elvis that we have not seen in his earlier work.
Pensive, tired, still unselfishly giving of himself to his fans. The thrill is gone and it has become work. He has a constant trail of people following him, depending on him, and he has the burden of projecting that Elvis image continuously.
There is a lot of off stage footage, which shows him to be thoughtful of and genuinely generous with his fans. He looks great for his age, but he is aging, and he seems sad. It's interesting that his only apparent joy in life (at least in this on the road, tour environment) seems to be music, including especially the impromptu off stage stuff . . . singing to himself in the limo, jamming gospel backstage with the band members. He's very likeable (loved by millions, of course) and one is glad to see him find escape in some good thing that he enjoys.
The on-stage music is good but is lacking a bit of the fire of his younger years. The stagework in the video is a montage from the series of stops on the tour. Clearly some of the concerts are better than others. At some he is a bit reserved and his famous stage posturing and movement is stilted and a parody of earlier times. He is HOT at a couple of them and, again, you can tell that he never stopped loving the music. The video brings it out clearly. Quite remarkably, we also see that he is still dealing with stagefright.
Speaking of the music - It seems that in every concert video (by anyone), there is a standout performance. In this one it's Elvis' imperfect but driving performance of "Burning Love". He introduces it as a "new song", has to read the lyrics for much of it, and it is incomplete. The lyrics are a variation on what will later become maybe his last great #1 Hit recording. He even seems a bit embarrassed by the "silliness" of the tune . . . but he WAILS it out like the Elvis Presley of 10 years earlier.
This video does a pretty good job of showing the phenomenon of Elvis at (or a bit past) his peak: truly bigger than life, unarrogant, flashy but unassuming as only he could be, weary, human, lovable. I hope that God received him into the habitations that he loved to sing about.
Recommended - for Elvis fans, music lovers, and students of remarkable people.
Rating: - C,MON NOW....WHERE'S THE DVD
As a former Elvis Impersonator from NJ/NY area, I collect everything I can on Elvis as a fan firstly!
This is a great Golden Globe awarded film and should be available on DVD.
I have already put this movie on DVD from the LTBX Laserdisc remastered print and would love to see a studio release of this feature as well, as the millions of fans worldwide waiting for it.
Ted Turner has the rights to the film and it's release and I hope he continues to give us Elvis fans the media we crave.
Long Live the King through the fans and digital media!!!!
Rating: - A SUPERSTAR BECOMES A GALAXY!
This is a great video of Elvis. Critics at the time who said he looked overweight in the film was somewhat of an exaggeration on their part. Although he isn't as thin as he was in previous years, he was still in great shape and he certainly fitted into his jumpsuits pretty well in 1972. See how sharp and lean he looked in his blue jumpsuit during his performance of See See Rider! But he is sad at times and looks hurt and adds this pretty well to his music which makes a viewer and listener admire his openness and feel for his pain. One scene that still breaks my heart is when he is in the limo and is talking and tries to be lively and attentive but then drifts off, stares outside the window, and puts his hand near his face as he suddenly looks very sad and enters some deep, penetrating thoughts. What a powerful moment to witness!
Elvis on Tour has a great version of See See Rider (probably Elvis' best version) and it is lively and Elvis' voice is full of power and intensity as he sings this version with great energy, arrogance and fervor. He shows just as much attitude and energy in the next number, the fan favorite Polk Salad Annie. The studio sessions are a must see as Elvis pours out his heart in gospel tunes and in the emotionally scarred song called Separate Ways which should have been a number one hit if he had the right people packaging and promoting his music back then.
He performed some of the concert songs in Elvis on Tour on stage in past years such as Proud Mary, Bridge Over Troubled Water, Big Hunk O' Love and Lawdy Miss Clawdy, but he is singing them with more power, emotion and freshness in Elvis on Tour. They seem to have a different feel to them as each song shows Elvis singing in a very emotional and dramatic way. He certainly was real and not some artificial star who promoted a fake product. This video shows Elvis and his music and how he expressed himself through song.
I love every song Elvis sang in this video because they show a different side of him each time and each performance is vocally and musically impressive. He shows he can sing anything and he challenges himself to hit notes and sing different styles that made him a truly unique legend. He makes you want to sing and have fun as well and to sing with feeling!
The band is soulful, rocking, and funky and the background singers are at their best especially during Sweet, Sweet Spirit. This band has to rank as one of the best rock and rhythm bands of all-time. Being on stage with them must have been very powerful for Elvis to experience as is evident in Elvis on Tour. He loves his band and his singers and this shows in some of the off-stage footage. He does not act superior to them, but shows he is a human being who loves being around people and enjoys having a good time even though he is personally going through hell.
The entire video is packed with incredible power and emotion. Elvis' hair is somewhat long and messy and not styled in some of the concert footage as it was before each show as can be seen in the footage of him as he is preparing to go on stage (the fans were becoming more obsessive and out of control at that time and some tried pulling his hair out so they could have a personal momento of him!) He is not tanned as he liked to be and as he would be in his Aloha special several months later and during the concerts Elvis is mostly flooded with intense spotlights and constant camera flashes (which he loved for drama purposes) so you don't get a true look at how great looking he was. He clearly is not wearing televison make-up. But who cares. He looks absolutely handsome and even substandard video technology used to film Elvis on Tour still shows Elvis as the best looking guy ever!
Although this review had mentioned the fact that Elvis looks sad and hurt, it should be noted that too much is spent analyzing Elvis' personal life when people should focus on his great music instead as some reviewers have pointed out. Some stories of his life have been blown way out of proportion especially by "friends" who betrayed him so it is a waste of time to focus on Elvis' personal life and problems when it is the music that matters and should be talked about and the music is what really matters in Elvis on Tour.
It would be great if they could come out with a big DVD edition, however. Complete concerts were filmed for Elvis on Tour so there are several hours of unseen footage that can be included on a future DVD edition of Elvis on Tour including the complete Gospel segment and the powerful version of American Trilogy that was included in the terrible This is Elvis movie released after his death. Unfortunately, Elvis Presley Enterprises does not own any of the rights to Elvis on Tour and the people who do refuse to comply to requests to release Elvis on Tour and its unreleased material on DVD. Therefore, it would be beneficial for fans and even non-fans to buy this rare video of Elvis in his prime and show the powers that be that there is a strong market for this great concert documentary that proves that Elvis was and still is the greatest singer and performer ever!
Rating:  - Nowhere Near As Good As "That's the Way It Is"
Some of the previous reviews have already touched on what I would have to say so I'll keep this short. "Elvis on Tour" is nowhere near as good as "That's the Way It Is". The performances are weaker, the song selection (in my opinion) is poorer since he doesn't sing most of the great songs for which he is known, and the overall structure of the film lacks the coherence and polish of "That's the Way It Is". And on a fairly superficial level, Elvis looks a lot better in "That's the Way It Is"-tanned and leaner. Tanned, anyway. Better hair, too, for what that's worth. True, those are superficial things but they do make a difference to one's sense of "The King". I had seen "That's the Way It Is" awhile back and thought it was one of the best concert films I'd seen; I expected more of the same with "Elvis on Tour" but was sadly disappointed. So if you give five stars to this movie, you'd have to go off the scale when rating "That's the Way It Is", such is the difference in these two movies.
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